I've been drowned out by the rain
Still I'm wishing I could stay
But I'm sorry my old friend
I've got to leave you once again
And despite what I might say
I measure pleasure by the pain
Measure pleasure by the twisting
Of the metal in vein
And it might be very hard
Can't be more than what we are
Can't be more 'til it's over

Here comes the resurrection
Everybody's got to die from something
Nothing ever left to leave you when you go
I saw you strip my babies
Animal the way you cut them might be
Animal the way I cut you from below

So you goad me into spite
It's the cruelty that you'd like
It's the waiting for the one thing
That you never could define
Fill the longing just because
Emasculate the ones you love
Have to wait 'til it's over

We are the less than mighty
Never was a way I thought it could be
Never quite enough to leave you when you go
I saw you strip my babies
Animal the way you cut them might be
Animal the way I cut you from below

I've been drowned out by the rain
Still I'm wishing I could stay
But I'm sorry my old friend
I've got to leave you once again
And despite what I might say
I measure pleasure by the pain
Measure pleasure by the twisting
Of the metal in the vein

And it might be very hard
Can't be more than what we are
Can't be more when it's over

Here comes the resurrection
Everybody's got to die for something
Never thought I'd have to leave you when you go
I saw you strip my babies
Animal the way you cut them might be
Animal the way I cut you from below

And if anger is the ending
Of the thing that we've become
For the mother and the father
And the sister and the son
Through the shallow without wanting
Realization to mistake
Through the ugliness
The open all the things we can't replace
I will control

General CommentTo me, it seems clear this song is about escaping the grips of drug addiction. The "resurrection" is a metaphor for the new birth - one free from drugs. It's as though he's singing to the addiction itself, personifying it. He refers to the addiction as "my old friend", and declares "I have to leave you once again", indicating that he's tried to quit drug use before.

He knows too well how difficult it is to get away from a crippling addiction, but he recognizes that if he does not escape, he will never achieve anything or grow as a person:
"And it might be very hard
can't be more than what we are
can't be more 'till it's over"

The song ends with the line "I will control" repeated 7 times, expressing the resolve of the addict to gain release from addiction.

The only lines I'm having a tough time with are the lines:
"I saw you strip my babies
animal the way you cut them might be
animal the way I cut from below"

I have no idea what to make of that, but I'd love somebody's interpretation.

General CommentDrug addiction is a good call -" measure pleasure by the
twisting of the metal in the vein" - heroin or the like.
As for "I saw you strip my babies
animal the way you cut them might be
animal the way I cut from below"
Animal can be used as an adjective to describe a instinctual or animalistic way of doing things. "Stripping" his babies and "cutting" them could be a metaphor for the addiction hurting his children as well as himself, but he can't control it... it's animal. It's almost as if he's saying as he fights the addictiion and tries to beat it down, it wears down his family, and he's going to change that. To reiterate -"You took what my family had, you cut my babies, so i'm cutting you out, i'm coming back from below"

General CommentWhile it could be dealing with drug use/abuse, this song speaks to me in terms of a strange arrangement where the guy lusts for this girl, who is looking for a deeper connection to form a relationship and she is willing to suffer all sorts of abuse to keep the guy around. The guy though has no intention to stay, and that's clear when he says "I've got to leave you once again". The girl is a matter of convenience. It appears she gets pregnant a few times and goes forward with abortions. The lust and the killing of the babies is what I think is what the word "Animal" is for.
Neither of them will experience any happiness or spiritual growth together, and while he knows his weaknesses, he also sees they must move on separately to gain better control over their lives.